Lighthouse
by RTSam
Summary: "Let me be that person, Liv. Let me be the one to guide you when you're lost. Let me be your lighthouse," he begged her. "I don't know if I can," she replied with tears in her eyes.     *Story will be better then summary. I stink at summaries :


AN: For this story, Elliot and Kathy are divorced, but only recently. Set in late season 12. And for the purpose of this story... there was no Calvin...

* * *

><p>Olivia Benson looked up from the file she had been studying for the last hour and sighed heavily. Elliot Stabler, her partner of twelve years, looked up and smirked at her. "No matter how many times you read it, it ain't going to change, Liv." Elliot teased. He watched as Olivia brushed her hair out of her eyes and leaned back in her desk chair, arms crossed behind her head. "Why don't we pack it up, take it home, and look at it over dinner. I feel like we've been here way too long." He reasoned, shutting down his computer. "Maybe a change of scenery will do us some good."<p>

Olivia looked over at him and raised her eyebrow. "Home? Detective Stabler?" She smirked and dropped her arms and began to shut down her computer as well. "Maybe you're right," she said, yawning. Elliot laughed and went to the coat rack to gather their jackets while Olivia got her purse from her locker.

"Running off to your love nest?" they heard from behind them.

"Funny, Munch, very funny," Elliot said, helping Olivia into her coat.

John Munch chuckled when he saw Olivia roll her eyes and grabbed a file from his desk. "Seriously, Benson, how is it living with Stabler?" he egged her on, walking over to them.

"We're not living together, John," she explained to the older detective for the umpteenth time. "He's staying in the guestroom until his new apartment is available."

"Just roomies? Whatever you say, Benson." John waved at the partners as they headed for the door and made his way to the file room.

Just as Elliot and Olivia reached the door, her desk phone rang. Elliot gave her a look that begged her not to answer but she couldn't ignore it. She gave him an apologetic smile and picked up the receiver. "Special Victim's Unit. This is Detective Benson."

_"Detective Benson, this is James, at the information desk downstairs."_

"What can I do for you, James?" she asked, giving Elliot a questioning look.

_"I have a young lady down here who says she needs to see you immediately. She says it's an emergency."_

"Is she a victim? Has she been raped?" she questioned, sitting down in her chair and pulling a notepad out of her drawer.

_"She said she's not hurt but she really wants to talk to you. She won't tell me her name and there's no parent with her."_

"How old is she?"

_"Said she's ten."_

"Send her on up, James."

_"Yes, ma'am."_

Olivia hung up the phone and rebooted her computer.

"What was that about?" Elliot asked, walking around to sit at his desk.

"I don't know, really. James at the information desk said there's a ten-year-old little girl downstairs asking for me, she's alone and wouldn't tell him her name, but she said she hasn't been hurt," she said. "I'm sorry, El. I know you're ready to go. If you want to go ahead, I'll call a cab when I'm done here."

"It's alright, Liv. I can wait for you."

"I actually thought maybe it was one of your kids because he said a 'young lady' at first but then he said she was ten and your girls are older than that."

John came back in the room and looked at the two. "I thought you were gone for the night. It's late."

"I have a visitor on the way up."

"New boyfriend?" John asked, sitting on the edge of her desk.

"Ten-year-old little girl," Elliot clarified and Olivia chuckled.

"Olivia!" Someone yelled, running into the bullpen. Olivia stood up, slightly startled by the yell, and stumbled as a mass of brown waves ran into her at full speed. "You have to help me!" The brunette child hugged her tightly, burying her face in Olivia's stomach, and cried.

Olivia shot Elliot a look and pried the arms away from her waist and knelt down so that she and her visitor were level with each other. She didn't get a good look at the child before she was barreled into. She eyed the little girl and raised an eyebrow. "Mackenzie?" she said, shocked, brushing her hair out of her face. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, sweetly, wiping the tears as they fell from Mackenzie's eyes.

"Please help me, Olivia," Mackenzie cried, throwing her arms around Olivia neck.

The three detectives exchanged glances with each other as Mackenzie cried into Olivia's shoulder. Olivia wrapped her arms around tight around Mackenzie and picked her up. The little girl wound her legs around Olivia's waist as she carried her out of the squad room and in to the children's interrogation room. Elliot followed her and John went to get Cragen.

* * *

><p>Olivia closed the door to the room behind her and sat down on the couch with Mackenzie on her lap. She noticed the little girl seemed thinner than she was a few months ago. "Honey, I need you to look at me," she whispered as she tried to pry Mackenzie's arms from around her neck. "Mack, come on honey, I need you to talk to me." Mackenzie loosened her hold on Olivia and lifted her head off the detective's shoulder. Olivia bit back a gasp as she noticed the fading black eye Mackenzie was sporting. "What's going on?" the detective asked again.<p>

Mackenzie's lip trembled as she looked at Olivia. "I need you to take me away from them," she cried.

"The Burton's?" Mackenzie nodded and hung her head. "Mackenzie, talk to me honey," Olivia told her as she lifted her chin and wiped the little girl's eyes. "I can't help you if you won't tell me what's going on."

"It's all because of Ella. They made me give her my room and I gotta sleep on a air mattress in the office," the little girl cried. "Ella hates me. She gives me dirty looks and pushes me into the wall if I pass her in the hallway. She'll twist my arm really hard for no reason. Ella hits me and yells at me. She told me I don't belong there. One time I pushed her back and Pam slapped me," she hiccuped, on the verge of becoming hysterical. "I don't wanna be there anymore. They don't want me."

Olivia hugged her close and looked at the two way mirror. She knew Elliot and the other guys were out there listening. "Okay, honey, calm down," she said in a soothing voice as she rocked Mackenzie back and forth. "It's gonna be okay, Mack."

* * *

><p>"What the hell is going on in that house?" Elliot yelled, angered by Mackenzie's tale.<p>

Cragen looked skeptical. "Let's not forget who we are dealing with, Elliot. You remember what she put us through a few months ago?"

Elliot whipped around to look at his captain. "You can't fake that kind of terror, _Captain_. Look at her. She's clinging to Liv like she's her lifeline."

"Elliot-"

"No! Do you remember what Liv found out about those people? They picked through orphans until they found a near perfect replica of Ella. Then gave Mackenzie a nose job and changed her hair so that she would look even more like Ella. Those people are twisted, Captain," Elliot said, pacing in front of the window. He raked his hands down his face and huffed. "I should have listened to her," he said quietly, to no one in particular, as he watched his partner comfort the little girl.

"Listened to whom?" John asked. "Mackenzie?"

Elliot glanced at John then back to Olivia. "No, Liv. When we took Ella home, I stayed in the car and when Liv got back, she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was worried about Mackenzie and what was going to happen to her now that Kevin and Pamela had their daughter back. I told her not to worry, you know. Maybe Pam might not be so over-protective now that she was back." Elliot rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from the sight inside the room. "She was right. She was right to be concerned and I ignored it."

"Come on, El, you couldn't have known. Who knew Ella would flip?"

"Liv knew," Elliot stated. "She always knows."


End file.
